2 Glendale brothers drown in Lake Pleasant in Peoria

Two brothers are dead after drowning in Lake Pleasant Saturday afternoon.

Glendale residents Dan Nguyen, 19, and Thanh "Matt" Nguyen, 20, died as one brother attempted to save the other, who was having difficulty swimming on the southwestern part of the lake, said officials with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

Tom Pendley, battalion chief with the Peoria Police Department, said that the brothers did not use flotation devices but that the details on how the drownings occurred can only be speculated at this point.

"One can only ponder the events that transpired to lead to this tragedy," Pendley said.

He said the brothers and their family were picnicking at Lake Pleasant when Matt decided to swim across a 150-foot cove.

"At some point he got tired and possibly panicked. His brother noticed he was in trouble and swam to help," Pendley said. "The end result was that they both went underwater."

Witnesses reportedly had lifeguard training and responded while family members looked on.

"They performed CPR and made a rescue effort, but it was too late," Pendley said.

Officials stressed the importance of using life preservers.

Pendley said people shouldn't swim across open waters without flotation devices.

"When someone goes underwater, the clock is ticking and there's not a lot of time," he said. "Even with the best of efforts, if something does not happen in the first few minutes, tragedy could occur."